Feed-cutter



(No Model.)

W; H. HALLOGKX; A. NpSMITlEL FEED CUTTER.

Patented Mar. 28, 1882 a Inventor's. 6 f/ /w w fly W Wz'fnesses: v

kttorxareys I UNITED STATES:

WILLIAM H'. HALLOGK AND ALONZO SMITH, OF RAOINE, WISCONSIN.

PATENT OFFICE.

FEED-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of. Letters PatentNo. 255,429, dated March28, 1882. Application filed December '7, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. HAL- LOOK and ALONZO N. SMi'rn, both ofRacine, in the county of Racine, and in the State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed-Gutters; and we dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

Our invention relates to hand feed-cutters and it consists in certainpeculiarities of construction, as will be more fully set forthhereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective of our improved machine. Fig.2 is an end view of the same with the gage-board removed and itsposition indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal verticalsection, and Fig. 4 is a plan view, of the entire machine. Fig. 5 is adetail view.

A represents the bod yor box of ourmu-chine, supported on any ordinaryframe-work, preferably on four legs, and put together and braced asshown. t

A represents the interior of the body, which is made nearly circular incross-section, and which tapers longitudinally, decreasing in diameteras it approaches the cutting-bars. The legs or standards a a a a projectup into the box between the inner circular surface, A, and the outsideof the box,and the upper portions of three of them are concealed by thetop and side boards, I) and b, of the said box, while one of thestandards, 6:, projects up above the top board, I), and to this standardthe guidingand cutting bars B BB are securely bolted at c and c.

0 represents the shank or handle ofthe knife, having two or more blades,0 G, curved, as shown, in opposite direction to the curve of thecutting-bars, between which they work, and to which they are secured bya bolt, d, and thumb-nut d, the bolt passing through perforations in theends ofthe knives, and through similar perforations in the lugs 0, caston the under side of the cutting'bars. The knives are sharpened toabevel-edge on opposite sides, as shown in the detail View, Fig. 5, andthe center bar, B, forms a cutting edge or plate from the point wherethe knife edges and the edges of the said bar come in contact, so, thatthe machine works on the principle of a pair of shears. These bars arebeveled or cutaway on their outer edges, as shown at ff, to preventlodgment of the cut material between the bars, and the said bars arenotched or corrugated on their lower inner edges, as shown at g, to keepthe straw, hay, or stalks which are being out well and evenlydistributed, and prevent this material from being crowded toward oneside by the pressure of the knives.

D represents a gage-board, hinged at h h to one of the side boards, I),of the box A, which board projects far enough forward to clear thecutting-bar attachment. This board has the incline D, secured at theside opposite the hinges on the inner side of said board, so that theknife 0 G C, in its downward sweep,will encounter this incline, and thusforce the gageboard open, permitting the cut ends of straw, 850., toreadily drop down, while a spring, *5, at the hinged end will restorethe gage-board to its original position as soon as the knife is raised.This gage-board insures the equal length of all the cntfeed, as theboard is placed at a distance beyond the outer knile equal to thedistance between the two knives, and thus all the feed will becut thesame length without the necessity of either skill or care on the part ofthe operator. A pin, k, on the other front standard, a, prevents theknife from going too far in its downward sweep.

Our machine possesses several advantages over those now in use. Bymaking theinside of the'feed-hox circular and tapering we can take anyordinarysized bundle of hay, straw, oats in the bundle, or evencornstalks with ears of corn on them, and insert the bundle at the wideend of the box. Then as we push the bundle forward the gage-board willprevent it from going too far, while at the same time the corrugatedsurface of the cuttingbars will keep the straws or stalkswelldistribnted,and then by a single downward sweep of the knife thematerial is out twice, and as the same 5 sweepoftheknifeantomaticallyopens thegageboard all the cut feed instantlydrops down into the proper receptacle, being aided in this by thebeveled or cut-away construction of the outer edges of the cutting-bars.As the machine works on the principle of shears, it will out clean andclear without drawing the feed through uncut, as rollers frequently do.Its simplicity of construction is another point in its favor, as are theease and facility with which the knives can be removed for sharpening bysimply unscrewing the thumb-nut and pushing back the bolt.

It is obvious that more cutting-blades could be added, if desired,without departing from the spirit of our invention; but for allpractical purposes we deem two sufficient.

The guiding and cutting bars B B B are readily detachable, and an extracenter bar of dilferent width can be furnished, if desired to at anytime vary the length of cut; but these details do not affect theprinciple of our invention, the essential features of which remainunchanged, whether two or more blades are secured to the knife-handle.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a feed-cutter, the combination of the guiding and cutting bars 13B B with the knife 0, having the blades 0 Osharpened to a bevel onopposite sides to form shear-edges in conjunction with the center bar,B, as shown and described.

2. In a feed-cutter, the combination of the box or body A A, guiding andcutting bars 13 BB, and knife G O O with the hinged gage-boardD,havinginclineD, and the spring 2', as shown and described, and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our handsthis 23d day of November, 1881.

WILLIAM H. HALLOOK. ALONZO N. SMITH.

Vitnesses ALBERT S. RITCHIE, SAML. RITCHIE.

